Behavioral targeted advertising

Abstract

Personal video recorders offer the ability to insert targeted ads to the subscriber locally where the interactions of the subscriber can be monitored. The order in which ads are inserted can be determined by an ad queue that is stored on the PVR. The order in which the ads are inserted can be modified based on the interaction of the subscriber. The modifications of the order may be defined in the ad queue where the ad queue contains links associated with specific actions or sets of actions. The modification may also been done by the PVR, where the PVR processes the interactions and modifies the ad queue based on applying some rules to the processed interactions.

What is claimed is:  
     
         1 . A method for managing presentation of ads to a subscriber based on subscriber interactions with previous ads, the method comprising: 
 presenting an ad to the subscriber;    monitoring the subscribers interactions to the ad; and    determining which ad to display to the subscriber next based on said monitoring.    
     
     
         2 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein said monitoring includes monitoring if the subscriber views or skips the ad.  
     
     
         3 . The method of  claim 2 , wherein said determining selects a first ad if the subscriber views the ad and a second ad if the subscriber skips the ad.  
     
     
         4 . The method of  claim 3 , wherein the first ad is a first ad type and the second ad is a second ad type.  
     
     
         5 . The method of  claim 4 , wherein the first ad type and the second ad type are selected from at least some subset of programming advertisements, EPG advertisements, product placement advertisements, overlay advertisements, bug advertisements, banner advertisements, recorded advertisements, VoD advertisements, and alternative advertisements.  
     
     
         6 . The method of  claim 3 , wherein the first ad is a first ad genre and the second ad is a second ad genre.  
     
     
         7 . The method of  claim 6 , wherein the first ad genre and the second ad genre are selected from at least some subset of humorous, serious, emotional, action, and musical.  
     
     
         8 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein said presenting includes presenting at least some subset of programming advertisements, EPG advertisements, product placement advertisements, overlay advertisements, bug advertisements, banner advertisements, recorded advertisements, VoD advertisements, and alternative advertisements.  
     
     
         9 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising receiving programming; and 
 detecting avails with the programming; and    wherein said determining includes determining which ad to display next based on said monitoring and said detecting.    
     
     
         10 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein said monitoring includes 
 recording the subscriber interactions; and    processing the subscriber interactions to determine trends.    
     
     
         11 . The method of  claim 10 , wherein the trends include preferences or dislikes for at least some subset of different ads, ad genres, ad types, ads for particular products; ads for particular services, ads for particular companies, and ads for particular industries.  
     
     
         12 . The method of  claim 11 , wherein said determining selects the next ad to display because it is preferred by the subscriber.  
     
     
         13 . The method of  claim 11 , wherein said determining selects the next ad to display because the ad scheduled to be displayed is disliked by the subscriber.  
     
     
         14 . The method of  claim 10 , wherein said determining includes modifying an ad queue that identifies an order for ads to be displayed based on the trends.  
     
     
         15 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the ads are targeted.  
     
     
         16 . The method of  claim 15 , wherein the ads are targeted based on subscriber type.  
     
     
         17 . The method of  claim 15 , wherein the subscriber may be associated with a different subscriber type based on said monitoring.  
     
     
         18 . The method of  claim 17 , wherein the subscriber type is associated with market segments.  
     
     
         19 . The method of  claim 17 , wherein the subscriber type is a profile identifying various traits about the subscriber.  
     
     
         20 . The method of  claim 19 , wherein the various traits include at least some subset of demographics, viewing preferences, purchasing preferences, and interests.  
     
     
         21 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein said determining includes selecting the ad that is next in an ad queue based on said monitoring.  
     
     
         22 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the subscriber interactions include at least some subset of view, skip, fast-forward, change channel, raise volume, lower volume, select more details, and pause.  
     
     
         23 . A system for managing presentation of ads to a subscriber based on subscriber interactions with previous ads, the system comprising: means for presenting an ad to the subscriber; 
 means for monitoring the subscribers interactions to the ad; and    means for determining which ad to display to the subscriber next responsive to said means for monitoring.    
     
     
         24 . The system of  claim 23 , further comprising 
 means for receiving programming; and    means for detecting avails with the programming; and    wherein said means for determining determines which ad to display next responsive to said means for monitoring and said means for detecting.    
     
     
         25 . The system of  claim 23 , wherein said means for monitoring includes 
 means for recording the subscriber interactions; and    means for processing the subscriber interactions to determine trends.    
     
     
         26 . A computer program embodied on a computer-readable medium for managing presentation of ads to a subscriber based on subscriber interactions with previous ads, the computer program comprising: 
 a source code segment for presenting an ad to the subscriber;    a source code segment for monitoring the subscribers interactions to the ad; and    a source code segment for determining which ad to display to the subscriber next responsive to said means for monitoring.    
     
     
         27 . The computer program of  claim 26 , further comprising 
 a source code segment for receiving programming; and    a source code segment for detecting avails with the programming; and    wherein said means for determining determines which ad to display next responsive to said source code segment for monitoring and said source code segment for detecting.    
     
     
         28 . The computer program of  claim 26 , wherein said source code segment for monitoring includes 
 a source code segment for recording the subscriber interactions; and    a source code segment for processing the subscriber interactions to determine trends.    
     
     
         29 . A method for managing the display of advertisement to subscribers based on subscribers interactions to previous advertisements, the method comprising 
 monitoring the subscribers interaction with an advertisement;    detecting a next avail;    querying an ad queue to determine which advertisement should be inserted in the next avail, wherein the ad queue includes an ordered list of ads and links that may modify the order based on monitored interactions;    retrieving the advertisement;    inserting the advertisement in the avail; and    delivering the advertisement to the subscriber.    
     
     
         30 . The method of  claim 29 , wherein the subscribers interactions include at least some subset of view, skip, fast-forward, change channel, raise volume, lower volume, select more details, and pause.  
     
     
         31 . The method of  claim 29 , wherein the links are tight links that select a specific next ad in the ad queue based on a specific subscriber interaction.  
     
     
         32 . The method of  claim 29 , wherein the links are loose links.  
     
     
         33 . The method of  claim 32 , wherein the loose links selects a specific ad based on a combination of criteria.  
     
     
         34 . The method of  claim 32 , wherein the loose links select a type of ad based on some criteria.  
     
     
         35 . The method of  claim 29 , wherein the ad queue may include multiple ad types.  
     
     
         36 . The method of  claim 35 , wherein the ad types include at least some subset of programming advertisements, EPG advertisements, product placement advertisements, overlay advertisements, bug advertisements, banner advertisements, recorded advertisements, VoD advertisements, and alternative advertisements.  
     
     
         37 . The method of  claim 36 , wherein the ad queue is a universal ad queue that manages the order of and links between all ad types.  
     
     
         38 . A system for managing the display of advertisement to subscribers based on subscribers interactions to previous advertisements, the system comprising 
 means for monitoring the subscribers interaction with an advertisement;    means for detecting a next avail;    means for querying an ad queue to determine which advertisement should be inserted in the next avail, wherein the ad queue includes an ordered list of ads and links that may modify the order based on monitored interactions;    means for retrieving the advertisement;    means for inserting the advertisement in the avail; and    means for delivering the advertisement to the subscriber.    
     
     
         39 . A computer program embodied on a computer readable medium for managing the display of advertisement to subscribers based on subscribers interactions to previous advertisements, the computer program comprising 
 source code for monitoring the subscribers interaction with an advertisement;    source code for detecting a next avail;    source code for querying an ad queue to determine which advertisement should be inserted in the next avail, wherein the ad queue includes an ordered list of ads and links that may modify the order based on monitored interactions;    source code for retrieving the advertisement;    source code for inserting the advertisement in the avail; and    source code for delivering the advertisement to the subscriber.    
     
     
         40 . A personal video recorder for presenting advertisements to a subscriber, the personal video recorder comprising: 
 an interface for receiving video programming;    an ad queue containing an ordered list of advertisements;    a detector for detecting avails within the video programming;    a monitor for monitoring subscriber interactions;    a selector for selecting an advertisement from the ad queue for insertion in the avail responsive to said monitor;    an inserter for inserting the advertisement into the avail; and    a modulator for modulating the video programming with the advertisement inserted therein to the subscriber.    
     
     
         41 . The personal video recorder of  claim 40 , further comprising a database containing a plurality of advertisements, wherein at least a subset of the plurality of advertisements are listed in the ad queue.  
     
     
         42 . The personal video recorder of  claim 41 , wherein the advertisements include at least some combination of programming advertisements, EPG advertisements, product placement advertisements, overlay advertisements, bug advertisements, banner advertisements, recorded advertisements, VoD advertisements, and alternative advertisements.  
     
     
         43 . The personal video recorder of  claim 40 , wherein the ad queue is stored in a database.  
     
     
         44 . The personal video recorder of  claim 40 , wherein the ad queue identifies where the advertisements are located.  
     
     
         45 . The personal video recorder of  claim 40 , wherein the universal ad queue includes links associated with specific subscriber actions that may modify the order of the ads in the ad queue.  
     
     
         46 . The personal video recorder of  claim 40 , wherein the universal ad queue includes links between various advertisement types.  
     
     
         47 . The personal video recorder of  claim 40 , wherein at least some subset of the advertisements identified in the universal ad queue are targeted advertisements.  
     
     
         48 . The personal video recorder of  claim 40 , further comprising a processor for modifying the ad queue responsive to said monitor.